UNESCO adds Prosecco hills to World Heritage list

The Conegliano and Valdobbiadene hills, the home of Prosecco, were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list on Sunday.

Conegliano Valdobbiadene Hills_photo credits Arcangelo Piai

Italy’s Prosecco hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene have been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list, it was announced yesterday. The hills are the 55th Italian site to be added to the register.

“We are delighted at the declaration of the hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene as a World Heritage site,” said Innocent Nardi, president of the Consortium for the Protection of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG in a press statement. “This recognition is as a result of long term team work.”

Italy has been lobbying for this recognition for a decade. According to a statement issued on behalf of the region, the nomination process requires a sustained collaboration between the region’s municipal administrators, as well as trade associations, local businesses and entrepreneurs and locals.

“The producers that make up the Consortium of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG have been at the heart of the UNESCO nomination,” Nardi continued. “They live and shape the uniqueness of our landscape, with its patchwork of steep, demanding vineyards that can only ever be worked by hand.”

Located in north-eastern Italy, the newly inscribed UNESCO site includes part of the winegrowing landscape of the Prosecco wine production area. According to the UNESCO statement, “The landscape is characterized by ‘hogback’ hills, ciglioni – small plots of vines on narrow grassy terraces – forests, small villages and farmland. For centuries, this rugged terrain has been shaped and adapted by man.” The statement goes on to say that since the use of ciglioni has created “a particular chequerboard landscape consisting of rows of vines parallel and vertical to the slopes. In the 19th century, the bellussera technique of training the vines contributed to the aesthetic characteristics of the landscape.”